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Residents getting desperate as large bear wreaks havoc in Colorado mountain town

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Residents getting desperate as large bear wreaks havoc in Colorado mountain town


It’s a big bear and it looks like it’s had a rough go. With one eye looking blinded and an ear possibly missing, it seems to have been in a tangle with something. But at its size, it’s hard to fathom what could do that kind of damage to it.

Sabrina Vasquez and her husband own a cabin in the Colorado mountain town of Idaho Springs.

“He’s gotta be over 500 pounds,” Vasquez told CBS News Colorado.

The bear has been caught on camera at their cabin on State Highway 103 numerous times. It is a serial breaking-and-entering specialist that has gotten in time after time.

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A bear causing havoc in Idaho Springs appears to be blind in one eye and missing an ear.

Sabrina Vasquez


“He ruined the carpet with food, feces, urine, so the carpet is ripped out,” Vasquez explained, showing the bare kitchen floor. “We’re trying to get some window companies to come up here and fix the windows.”

They have put a so-called “unwelcome mat” by the back door near the ruined bay window, which has screws facing up, so any animal stepping on it would be painfully discouraged from invading. Last year while they were out of state at a funeral, the bear busted in time and time again.

“He was in here for four days,” Vasquez said.

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Their neighbor’s cabin next door was hit last week.

“We’re in cabin jail,” she explained. “Because we can’t leave. If we leave, he will know that we’re gone and he will break in.”

The bear, which is likely a male due to its size, has been a problem for several years.

“We’ve been hearing of this bear in Idaho Springs for a couple of years now and we have a record of it breaking into multiple cabins, probably over a dozen over that time period,” said Kara Van Hoose, spokesperson for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. “So we’ve seen that escalation in behavior with that bear.”

The origin of the problem may have been the actions of one of Vasquez’s neighbors.

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“Oh, I’m sure because of the neighbor feeding it,” said Vasquez.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife did warn and then cite a neighbor for feeding large game animals a couple of years ago said Van Hoose. “When you’re doing it over a period of time, you can create an environment when bears, when deer, when elk, when mountain lions are coming back to an area again and again because they found food there.”

Now Vasquez says she’s going to the cabin less if her husband isn’t there. She worries about what could happen. “He’s huge, he’s massive. Biggest bear I’ve ever seen,” said Vasquez.

CPW has brought a trap to their property.  A bear did get in last week and stepped on the trigger, but the door didn’t fully close and it backed out. But looking at video from one of the cameras on the property it’s clear that it wasn’t the problem bear anyway. It looked about half the size of the one causing problems.

“The bad bear is super smart,” Vasquez said.

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CPW says a bear in this much trouble will have to be euthanized. Vasquez realizes it’s needed but does not relish the fact.

“No, because we’re pro-bear. I mean that’s why we live here, we love the wildlife,” she said.

“When we see that pattern of behavior of continually coming into human spaces, no regard for humans or any sort of fear of humans, in that case, that’s something that the bear can’t unlearn and (that) behavior that can’t be broken,” said Van Hoose.

Moving such an animal wouldn’t work either.

“If you move that bear to another location, it’s not going to break its prior behavior. It’s just going to break into houses in that new location. You’re not fixing the problem. You’re just placing that bear with problems in a new location to then break into houses,” said Van Hoose.

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Vasquez and her husband believe with the bear being a danger and trapping not working, it’s time for CPW to take more action.

“You would think that they would have somebody out there that can hunt down the bear,” Vasquez said.

But CPW will continue to try its current methods, says Van Hoose.

“I think we’ll continue to try to trap the bear, if that’s possible, at this point and then rely on sightings and other evidence that we find nearby,” she said.

The animal is a threat, but so far has not broken into homes with people inside. That’s one line it appears not to have crossed. 

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Denver nostalgic-themed bar opens after lengthy permitting delays

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Denver nostalgic-themed bar opens after lengthy permitting delays


South Broadway’s newest bar in Denver is a “nostalgic-forward neighborhood cocktail bar” called the Good Luck Club. However, it’s been anything but lucky.

“It would have been really helpful to have a road map of here’s how you open up a bar,” said Ben Hamilton, Good Luck Club’s general manager. “Here are the steps you need to take.”

It’s finally open, six months behind target, thanks to a guessing game they didn’t know they were playing.

“I was like jumping over hurdles and navigating a maze to try to figure out and put all the pieces of the puzzle together,” Hamilton added. “There was a good list of complications that we ran into when we were filing for our liquor licenses, our zoning permits, our assembly permits.”

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Ben Hamilton, the general manager of the Good Luck Club, talks about the delays he new Denver bar faced in opening.

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However, the city knows about the problems behind the permit process.

Tuesday marks exactly one year since Denver Mayor Mike Johnston signed his first executive order overhauling the city’s permit process with a new office.

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“It’s really hard for our customers to understand what is needed for every type of construction project that could be out there,” said Robert Peek, the director of development systems performance with the Denver Permitting Office.

Hamilton says that was exactly what he and his team faced:  “It seemed like it was never the full answer.”

That’s why the Denver City Council approved a $4.6 million contract with ComplyAI for a tool that will help streamline and speed up the process.

“It’ll do an initial review of their applications and their plans and identify anything that I’m missing or anything that is approvable for the city,” Peek said.

The software could shave weeks off the process, and hopefully, in the future, businesses like the Good Luck Club can serve the community more quickly.

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“We see this as part of our larger effort to really revitalize our local economy by getting these businesses and homeowners to move into their homes,” Peek said.

The permitting office is just beginning the implementation process to integrate the artificial intelligence tool into the system. They hope to launch it to the public by the end of the year. 

Meanwhile, the Good Luck Club is having its grand opening on April 30.



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Colorado Avalanche coach suffers facial fractures after being hit with a puck

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Colorado Avalanche coach suffers facial fractures after being hit with a puck


The Colorado Avalanche’s head coach will not travel with the team this week due to injuries he sustained after being hit with a puck during a game over the weekend.

Jared Bednar will stay at home as the team travels for two of its last regular season games in Canada, according to a statement from the team. Bednar was diagnosed with facial fractures and a corneal abrasion, but is expected to make a full recovery without surgery.

During Saturday night’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights, a stray puck hit by the Knights’ Keegan Kolesar went over the boards and into the Avalanche’s bench. Bednar was struck on the right side of his face and taken to the hospital to be evaluated.

The assistant coaching staff, which includes Dave Hakstol and Nolan Pratt, took over after Bednar left the game. Pratt told reporters in the postgame press conference that the hit was “unnerving.”

“It’s scary when the pucks are flying in there, it happens all the time,” Pratt said, adding that it was “unfortunate tonight.”

But the team recalibrated and returned to play, Pratt said.

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The Avalanche lost in overtime, but have already secured their playoff spot.

Pratt and Hakstol will lead the Avalanche in the Monday night game against the Edmonton Oilers and Tuesday’s game against the Calgary Flames. The team will return to Denver’s Ball Arena for its final home game before playoffs on Thursday.



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Evacuation order lifted following brush fire east of Colorado Springs

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Evacuation order lifted following brush fire east of Colorado Springs


The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office has lifted an evacuation order east of Colorado Springs that it issued Sunday due to a fire near North Curtis and Garrett roads. “It is safe to return to the area,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote in a social media post. Investigators were working to determine the size and cause […]



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